Room indicator



= March '17.]1925. 1,529,766

' J. BINA ROOM INDICATOR Filed Aug. 5, 1921 2 Shee'ts-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.JEH/Y Buy/l BY 'March 17, 1925. I 1,529,766

' J. B-l NA ROOM INDICATOR I Filed Aug 5, 1921 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2YINVENTOR.

Q W v I k H I i ITTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 17, 1925.

4 1,529,766- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN BINA, or MILWAUKEE,- wi'sconslm R0 O'M INDICATOR.

Application filed August 5, 1921; Serial. Nb. 489,9 9.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN BINA, a citizen of the United States, residingat Milwaukee, in the county ofMilwaukee and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented a certainnew and useful Improvement in Room Indicators, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, concise, ande actdescription,reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming-- apart of this specification.

This invention relates to lock actuated room indicators.

The occupants of-hotelrooms, state rooms, etc.,, arenot infrequentlyannoyed by the untimely entry, or attempted entry, of the servants orattendants in the course of their usual duties. Actual entry mayordinarily be prevented by the use of the inside lock with which theserooms are usually provided and which cannot be operated except'from theinside; but attempted entries can not One object of the presentinvention is the provision of an improved type of lock actuatedindicator for the purpose above outlined, capable of universalapplication and use with locks of various forms, without requiring anymodification of the lock or look mechanism. v

Another object is the provision of an improved type of indicator, whichwill not only automatically respond to the positions Of the look butwhich may be manually set to indicate a given condition of the room.This feature is particularly useful in hotels and the like, where it isdesirable to indicate, for instance, when the room has been cleaned upfor the day and is ready for occupancy.

Other objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying,drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in front: elevation of aconventional'form of dooran'd' door casing equipped with a lock actuatedindicator constructed in acc'ordance'with the present invent on. r y

Figure 2 18 a horlzontal sect on'al View on a somewhat larger Sensor theparts Shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3- isla sectional view taken. su bg st'antially on the line 3- 3of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the liiie ofFiguresQ and 6.

Figures 5, 6 and 7 are front views of the indicator proper, with theface plate pa'r tially broken away, and respectively illu's trating thethree diiferent indicator. I v

For convenience of. illustration and dejscriptiom th'e invention isshown and will be described as, embodied in an indicator mounted upon adoor casing, although it may be advantageously embodied in an indicatordesigned for mounting upon the door. I

A door 10 of conventional form is shown in Figures 1 and 2 of thedrawings.- This door is mounted in the usual manner, within the doorcasing ll o'f standard construction. A look mechanism of any appropriatetype is carried by the door.

12 and with two lock bolts. One of the lock bolts shown at 13 isoperable by a key 14 insertable through a key hole 15 on theinner sideof the door, while the other lock bolt (not shown) may be operated fromeither side of the door through one of the key holes 16. When in lockingposition, the

active end o-f the lock bolt 13 projects into a socket 17 within thedoor casing, in the usual manner, to secure the door againstopening. Theparts thus far described are of a well known construction, so that afurther or more detailed description is deemed unnecessary The indicatorselected for illustration in cludes a base plate 18 and a dished coverorface plate 19 cooperatingtherewith to form a casing or chamber 20. Theseplates are secured together by any appropriate means,

'such, for instance, as screws 21 passing through suitable registeredopenings therein and anchored in the face of the door casing 11. Theface plate '19 is provided with a sight opening 19. A signal plate ortarpositions of I the The lock mechanism shown is provided with theusual 'door'knobs thereof llO get 22 is mounted within a suitableguidew'ay formed within the casing 20 and extending beneath the sightopening. The guideway is formed preferably by. slitting and bending upportions of the base plate 18 to form a pair of upstanding guide flanges23 between which the target 22 is positioned forvertical slidingmovement. The target is arranged to assume either of three positionswith respect to the sight opening. In one position (Fig. 5), the upperportion only of the target is visible beneath the sight opening in asecond position .(Fig. 6), the lower portion only of the target isvisible; and in the third position (Fig. 7), the target is completelywithdrawn from beneath the sight opening, so that, 'a portion of thebase plate 18 is visible therethrough. Theupper and lower portions ofthe target, as well as the portion of the base plate 18beneath theopening, preferably bear characteristic colors or symbols correspondingto different conditions of the lock or room. For instance, in theindicator shown the lower portion 'of the target carries the symbol Into indicate that the room is occupied and the occupant does not want tobe disturbed; the upper portion carries the symbol Out to indicate thatthe room is unoccupied or that the servant or attendant may enter totake care of the room; and the base plate 18 car ries'the symbolInspected to indicate that the room has been taken care, of by theservant or attendant. I

Lock actuated mechanism is employed for eli'ecting an automaticadjustment of the indicator toeither of the two positions first named,while mechanism adapted to be actuatedby the servant or attendant ispreferably provided for effecting an adjustment to the third position.These mechanisms may assume various forms. The lock actuated mechanismis preferably arranged, however, to be actuated by the active end of thelock bolt 13, that is, the end of the bolt that enters the socket 17,so'that the indicator may be associated with and actuated by the lockwithout requiring a modification of the lock mechanism. Then theindicator is applied to the .door casing, a lock actuated mech-l anism,such as will now be described, may: be advantageously employed.

This mechanism includes a plunger 24:, arranged preferably insubstantial align-- ment with the lock bolt 13. This plunger ispreferably reciprocally mounted in altubular member 25 seated within asuitable bore formed within the door casing and communicating with thesocket 17. A compression spring 26 tends at all times to project theplunger into the socket 17 toward tllGlOCk bolt 13. For purposes ofadjustment, one end-of the plunger 24. is provided with a contact screw27 screwed into the end of the plunger and adapted to bear against theend face of the lock bolt, when the bolt is adthat it usually becomesnecessary that the rock shaft 32 extend substantially through the doorcasing from front to rear. For this reason, a longitudinally adjustableshaft is preferably employed so that it may be acwidths. The rock shaftshown is therefore made up of two short lengths of shafting havingtelescopic interengagement. length of shafting 33 carries at oneend thepinion and is squared at the other end for a sliding fit within thesquared tubular shafting 34.

The free end of the tubular shafting 3 T fits over and embraces asquared turnbutton 35 secured to one end of a stub shaft 36 rotatab'lymounted within the base plate 18 of the indicator. shaft 36 carries acam or lever 37 for actuating the target 22. The stub shaft 36 and lever37 are preferably arranged within the bottom portion of the casing 20beneath the One The other end of this stub- 'commodated to door casingsof variouslower edge of the target, so that when the i lever 37 is swungto an upright position the target is raised to its uppermost positionwith the lower portion thereof exposed through the sight opening. Whenthe lever 37 is swung downwardly the target falls by a gravity to alower position. 7

Any appropriate manually operable means, such as a detent lever 38, maybe provided for limiting the downward movement of the target. This lever38 is pivotally mounted, as at 39, preferably upon the base plate 18. inposition beneath the lower edge of the target. This lever is of'suchlength that when in its normal upright position the downward movement ofthe-target is limited and the target held thereby in such position thatthe upper portion thereof is exposed through the sight opening. Thislever, however, when swung to its lower po sition, permits the target tofall to its lowermost position, where it is entirely below the sightopening and a portion of the base plate is exposed through the opening.The two levers 37 and 38 are preferably arranged so asto swing towardeach other and so that the lever 38, when in its lower position, iswithin the path of movement of lever 37 (see Fig. 7). Thus, when thelever 37 is swung upwardly the lever 38 is forced thereby into itsupright position, shown in Figures 5 and 6. To return it to its lowerposition, any appropriate, means, such as a knob .40, is provided.connected with the pivot pin 39 and projecting from the face plate 19,where it may be readily grasped and manipulated by the servant orattendant.

In operation, lever 38 isnormally in the upright position shown inFigures and '6. Then the lock bolt 13 is thrown to locking position,with the active end thereof pro; jecting into the socket 17, the piungeris forced to the right against the pressure of the spring 26, the rockshaft 32 is rotated, and the lever 37 swung to its upright position asshown in Figure 6. The targetv is thus forced upwardly by the lever 37so that the indicator shows In. The servant may thus tell, at a glance,that the room is occupied and that the occupant does not wish to bedisturbed.

When the occupant leaves the room, however, he turns the key andwithdraws the lock bolt 13 to release the lock. As soon as released, theplunger 24 is automatically shifted to the left (Fig. 2) under theaction of the spring 26. This movement of the plunger is limited by thecontact of the shoulder 29 with the pinion 31. This movement of theplunger is sufiicient, however, to swing the lever 37 to its lowerposition of Figure 5 by rotation of the pinion 31, rock shaft 32 andturn button 35. The target 24 is thus permitted to fall by gravity untilit strikes the upstanding lever 88, in which position the indicatorshows Out. The servant may thus tell, at a glance, that the room iseither unoccupied or that the occupant is willing to have the servantenter for the purpose of taking care of the room. Should the occupantagain lock the door by throwing the lock bolt 13 to locking position,the indicator would again be thrown to the position showing In, in themanner above described.

l Vhen the servant has cleaned up the room for the day, he turns theknob 40 to the right (Fig. 1), thus swinging the lever 38 to its lowerposition of Figure 7. This permits the target 22 to fall by gravity toits lowermost position, where it disappears below the sight opening andthe indicator shows Inspected. The room is then again ready foroccupancy. When the occupant has entered and does not want to bedisturbed he looks the inner look by turning the key 14 and thusthrowing the. bolt 13 tolocking position. The lever 37 is thusautomatically swung upwardly in the manner above described, forcing thelever 38 upwardly to its normal upright position and raising the targetto its uppermost position where the indicator shows In. The parts arethus again restored to the position shown in Figure 6.

Various changes may be made in the embodiment the invention h ereinabove2. A -lock actuated indicator having a movable target, lock actuatedmeans tor e fl'ecting' a movement. of said target in either of twodirections, and manually operable means for limiting the movement ofsaid target in one direction;

3. A look actuated indicator having a movable target, lock actuatedmeans for effecting a movement of said target in either of twodirections, means actuated by said first named means for limiting themovement of said target in one direction, and manually operable meansfor adjusting said limiting means to permit a further movement of saidtarget.

4. The combination with an indicator having a sight opening and a targetmovable. relative to said sight opening, of means for effecting amovement of said target in either of two directions, and meansautomatically actuated in one direction for lim iting the movement ofsaid target and manually operable in another direction to permit anextended movement of said target.

5. An indicator having a movable target, means including a lock actuatedlever for effecting movement of said target in either of two directions,and manually releasable means for limiting the movement of said targetin one direction.

6. An indicator having a movable target, means including a lever foreffecting move ment of said target in either of two directions, andmeans including a second lever projectable within the path of movementof said first named lever for limiting the movement of said target inone direction.

7. The combination with a look having a lock bolt of an indicatoractuated thereby, said indicator comprising signalling means, and signalactuating means, including a lock actuated member pro-jectable into thepath of movement of the active end of said lock bolt.

8. The combination with a lock having a lock bolt of an indicatoractuated thereby and having signalling'means, and means including amember engageable with the active end of said lock bolt for actuatingsaid first named means.

9. In a lock actuated indicator, the cornbination of a signalling means,a member for contact with the active end of a lock bolt to movetherewith, and connections between said member and sald slgnalhng meansforaotuating said signalling means when the lock bolt is thrown tolocking position. o

v10. The combination of a door and door casing, a lock having a lockbolt-carried by said door, an indicator, and means including a membermounted in,said casing and actuated by said lock bolt for actuating saidindicator. 11. The combination of a door and door casing, a lock havinga lock bolt carried by said door, an indicator mounted on said

